White chocolate

The darkness is not kidding around this fall/winter (hello ridiculously high ISO 🙁 ). I honestly don’t mind the darkness per se, it kind of relaxes me. Thus far at least. We’ll see what I have to say about that come February. But, when you’re planning to shoot something, it’s kind of a bummer to see the light fade around noon. I’ve considered getting some sort of studio lights but I don’t know.. Maybe I just have to accept that winter can be a struggle photography wise, but at least I’m feeling very inspired!

This time of year, is actually the only time I really ever make hot beverages. I mean for the exception of coffee, of course. It’s much needed right now, with the cold weather and the darkness. Lit candles every morning and night, and lots of this white chocolate mocha. By far, the coziest way to start the day. Ok, a fireplace wouldn’t hurt either. One day I will have one. All in due time!

WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

300 ml (1 1/4 cup) milk, 3%

Orange peel from 1/2 orange

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp. vanilla bean powder (or 1 tsp. vanilla extract)

50 g good quality white chocolate, chopped

2 shots of espresso (80ml / 1/3 cup)

Whipped cream, to top

Cocoa powder, to dust

Orange zest, to top

INSTRUCTIONS

Add milk, orange peel and cinnamon to a saucepan and bring it to a simmer, whisking constantly. Put a lid on the saucepan and set aside for a few minutes.

Stir in vanilla and white chocolate and whisk until completely melted. Reheat mixture if needed. Discard the orange peel and cinnamon stick.

Pour one espresso into each cup, then top with the milk mixture, whipped cream, cocoa powder and orange zest.

I knew from the moment I opened the box to this bundt pan that I was going to bake a chocolate bundt cake in it, and then top it with a matcha glaze. The cheesecake filling idea popped into my head as I was making the batter for the chocolate cake. It was a good idea, to say the least. This is probably my most favorite chocolate cake ever, it’s like a fudgey, delicious brownie in consistency. Mmmm. And I swear it gets even better after a couple of days in the fridge, which is awesome because to be honest, who can eat such a huge cake in one go?

And guys, I bet you already know them, but if you don’t, you need to know about Nordic Ware bundt pans (they did not pay me to say this, I just adore their pans and want to share). Now, I love my vintage cake pans but I’ve had so many cakes stick to the pans and it’s just such a waste of time and good ingredients. I’ve not had a single cake stick to the pan with my NW pans. So there you go.

Anyway, if you’re making this recipe, make sure to read up on the notes right before the ingredients and instructions in the recipe. 🙂

Some notes about this recipe: I suggest using coffee in the cake as it heightens the chocolate flavor, but water works as well. I used a white chocolate with lemon flavor because I couldn’t find regular white chocolate, and I think that made the cake taste even better! So adding some lemon or orange zest to the cake, cheesecake batter or glaze definitely wouldn’t be a bad thing. If you don’t like matcha, you can absolutely omit it from the glaze. If the cake isn’t eaten the same day, wrap it well and store it in the fridge, I actually find that the cake becomes better after a day or two in the fridge!

Ingredients

Cheesecake filling

200 g full-fat cream cheese

1 medium egg

60 g (~1/4 cup) granulated sugar

1 tsp. all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. vanilla bean powder

Chocolate cake

200g (~1 3/4 sticks)butter

125ml(1/2 cup) milk

240g(1 2/3 cups) all purpose flour

1 1/2tsp.baking soda

68g(2/3 cup) cocoa powder

300g(barely 1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar

1/4tsp.salt

2 medium eggs

150ml(2/3 cup) sour cream or thick yogurt

125ml(1/2 cup) hot coffee or water

White chocolate matcha glaze

100 g (3.5 oz) white chocolate, finely chopped

100ml (1/3 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp.) heavy cream

1-2 tsp. cooking grade matcha powder

Instructions

Cheesecake filling

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Beat together the cream cheese, egg, sugar, flour and vanilla. Set aside while you prepare the cake batter.

Chocolate cake

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Add the butter mixture, eggs and sour cream to the dry ingredients and beat until just smooth.

Add the hot coffee and stir until smooth (batter will be quite runny).

Pour about 1/2 of the cake batter into the prepared pan. Spoon about 1/2 of the cheesecake filling over the cake batter, trying to not let it touch the pan (a little bit is ok though, just make sure to use a high quality pan so it doesn’t stick to the pan). Pour a little bit of the chocolate cake batter over the cheesecake mixture, just to cover it. Spoon in the rest of the cheesecake mixture, and then cover with the remaining chocolate batter.

Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool inside the pan for 20 minutes before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely.

White chocolate matcha glaze

Place the white chocolate in a heat proof bowl.

Pour the cream into a saucepan and whisk in the matcha powder. Place the saucepan over medium high heat until cream is very hot but not boiling. Pour the cream over the chocolate – make sure all the chocolate is covered with cream, if not, press chocolate down with a spoon. Let stand for 30 seconds, then stir until chocolate is melted and glaze is completely smooth.

So the second Sunday of advent passed by in a flash.. the whole month of December goes by so quickly. And suddenly it’s a new year. I feel like I’m not as efficient as I used to be. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m trying to be at bit more mindful of where I spend my energy. I know I mention this every year but it’s just so DARK. You kind of forget!

In December, baking Lussekatter (saffron buns) is an absolute must for me (and for maaany other Swedes of course). But this year I wanted to try something a bit different. Namely a soft saffron cake. So I baked this cake twice. One with “regular” milk and one with coconut milk and both turned out incredible. The one with regular milk is possibly a bit fluffier. Just ever so slightly. Both delicious. And then I made a white chocolate ganache with coconut milk instead of cream. Oh my! So good! I will definitely be trying that again with dark chocolate as well. Maybe for another blogpost!

SAFFRON BUNDT CAKE WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE COCONUT GANACHE

Yields one bundt cake, serves 8-10

I highly recommend making this cake with coconut milk (full fat), but if you’re not a fan of coconut, you can use regular milk in the cake in place of coconut milk and heavy cream in the ganache. I’ve tried it and it works beautifully! I usually soak my saffron for about a week before baking with it to extract as much flavor as possible, but doing it an hour or so before is better than not doing it at all. If you don’t have dark rum, you can use any hard liquor. If you don’t want to use any type of alcohol, you can let it soak in 1 tbsp. warm water for an hour before using. Cake recipe adapted from here.

INGREDIENTS

BUNDT CAKE

0,5 g (approximately 1/4 tsp) saffron

1 tsp. granulated sugar

1 tbsp. dark rum

200 g (1 3/4 sticks) butter

150 mL (2/3 cup) coconut milk

240 g (1 2/3 cups) all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

270 g (1 1/4 cups) granulated sugar

GANACHE

50 g (1.8 oz) white chocolate, finely chopped

60 mL (1/4 cup) coconut milk

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp. vanilla powder

Powdered sugar, for dusting

INSTRUCTIONS

BUNDT CAKE

Grind the saffron with 1 tsp. sugar and put in a small jar. Add dark rum and cover with a lid or plastic wrap and leave it in room temperature for at least one hour.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the coconut milk and saffron mixture and set aside.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the butter mixture and stir until combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir until batter is smooth.

Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in its pan for 15 minutes before inverting it onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

GANACHE

Put the finely chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the coconut milk in a saucepan until hot, but not boiling. Pour the hot coconut milk over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds.

Stir with a small spoon until chocolate is melted and ganache is smooth. Add the salt and vanilla. Leave to cool until slightly thickened (it won’t thicken a lot though). Dust cake with powdered sugar and drizzle with ganache.

On a happier note, for once I have so many blogposts prepared that I’m not sure where to begin! That’s new. I usually struggle making one blogpost every week, but right now I’m on an inspiration high. It feels like I have so many recipes to share with you guys!

By the way, my book is being printed as we speak, and next week I will hold it in my hand for the first time. Mindblowing!